The abuse of ethanol remains a major public health problem in the U.S. and throughout the world. It is of interest to provide methods for the detection of ethanol exposure in individuals so as to monitor compliance with abuse treatment regimens. It is also of interest to provide assays useful for the evaluation of drugs that may be used to treat one or more of the adverse effects of chronic ethanol over-consumption. In order to provide such methods and assays, it is necessary to gain detailed understanding of the biochemical effects of ethanol exposure at a cellular level. Recent evidence suggests that ethanol modifies the function of certain proteins and signal transduction pathways, thereby producing changes in second messenger concentrations, protein kinases, and gene expression. This observation does not provide a specific test which enables the effects of ethanol to be readily determined. Recently, it has been shown that the specificity of protein kinases appears to correlate with their localization within the cell. Mochly-Rosen, 1995, Science 268:247.
Chronic alcoholism causes functional and pathologic changes in many organs, particularly the brain, but the molecular mechanisms which account for these effects are not well understood. It would be desirable to provide methods for monitoring the effect of chronic ethanol exposure on mammalian cells, and further desirable to provide methods for determining if an individual has been actively consuming ethanol for extended periods of time.
The present invention relates to an assay for detecting the effects of ethanol, particularly the chronic exposure of ethanol, on animal cells, particularly human or other mammalian cells. This assay can be used both in a diagnostic test to determine ethanol consumption in an individual, or in screening for drugs or treatments which moderate, inhibit, reverse or enhance the effects of ethanol consumption.